"The unfortunate decision 8 1/2 years ago to terminate the shuttle program, in my opinion, prematurely grounded Discovery and delayed our research," Glenn said. Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962, said the shuttle extended the nation's quest to explore. Still, some astronauts wished the shuttles hadn't been retired. Discovery's main engines had been retained for testing on a future launch vehicle to take humans to Mars, he said. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, who flew aboard Discovery twice, said the space shuttles were a "stepping stone" to explore the rest of the solar system. The decision to retire the space shuttle fleet was made in 2004, so NASA could spend money to build new spaceships, which are still several years away. Neal said that brought "people who were indicative of the rest of us" into space. It also was the first shuttle to travel to the Russian space station Mir and to dock with the International Space Station.Īnd because Discovery and other craft in the shuttle fleet were larger than earlier spacecraft, they opened new avenues to space for women and minority candidates in science and engineering who wouldn't have come through military test pilot programs. It deployed satellites including Hubble, as well as top secret Defense Department missions in the 1980s with military astronauts on board. A companion exhibit at the museum on the National Mall will include a model of Discovery's mid deck, where visitors can climb inside and see a shuttle toilet (think vacuum cleaner) and other features.ĭiscovery flew every type of mission during the 30-year shuttle program. That will allow visitors to have a view from the commander's seat and then float through compartments to explore the shuttle.
Soon there will also be images of the payload bay accessible at kiosks near the Discovery display.
Instead, the museum has created 360-degree interactive pictures of Discovery's flight deck and mid deck. Allowing people to walk inside would require cutting a bigger hatch, which would damage it. "We don't permit that here because we treat all of the aircraft and spacecraft as artifacts, not as exhibit props," she said. ‘Really out of control.’ America digs in for inflation fight.
0 kommentar(er)
